The future of Ally McCoist may be finally decided next week after a meeting between the Rangers manager and power brokers at the club failed to produce a deal to allow him to leave Ibrox.
McCoist, who triggered his 12-month notice period last week, is now set to be in charge of the team for the SPFL Championship match against Livingston on Saturday and, crucially, in the manager's seat at what is certain to be a turbulent annual meeting on Monday.
McCoist met Derek Llambias, a club director and associate of shareholder Mike Ashley, and Sandy Easdale, the chairman of the football board of Rangers, at Ibrox today for 40 minutes. 
Easdale would only confirm after the meeting that McCoist would remain manager of the club. He would not comment on what would happen after the match against Livingston or whether further talks were planned.
The situation is therefore a stalemate. The club will insist it has no funds to pay off the manager, who triggered the restoration of his original £750,000 salary on submitting his resignation. The 52-year-old is likely to be reluctant to leave without any compensation.
It puts Rangers in the grisly situation of having a manager, who has tendered his resignation, in charge of a team that is lagging behind Hearts in the chase to achieve financial salvation by winning the SPFL Championship and resuming its place in the top tier of the Scottish game.
It adds an unnecessary spice to what promise to be a dramatic agm on Monday. The McCoist situation will be added to the pressing financial matters, the controversy over the involvement of Ashley, owner of Newcastle United, and the probable unveiling of a share issue to address the gaping hole in the club's finances.
Although the McCoist meeting ended with no progress, the club announced yesterday it was to address vigorously two other issues.
The Scottish Football Association has lodged complaints against Rangers and Ashley over the level of influence wielded by the Sports Direct tycoon. A club statement to the Stock Exchange said: "The directors of Rangers will take legal advice with a view to defending the actions of the company and the club robustly in relation to those matters raised by the SFA.''
The club is also to contest a decision by the SPFL to withhold £250,000 of broadcast money due to Rangers. The league body is seeking to recover a fine imposed in February 2013 for the use of employee benefit trust schemes.
An appeal has been lodged with the judicial panel of the SFA. A Rangers statement said: "The board is advised that the payment is not due to SPFL and the appeal will be pursued vigorously.''
The SPFL contends that the sum is owed because of a deal struck that led to the transfer of Rangers' membership of the SFA after administration and then liquidation. It said an agreement has been signed to make Rangers "liable for sums such as this''.